Broken
by Splashpaw
Summary: Herbs can cure anything- well, almost anything. Briarpaw learns this when her backbone is snapped beneath a fallen tree, proving that herbs, strong as they might be, cannot heal a broken backbone. Courtesy of jayfeather12345.Oneshot. Rated T.


**A/N: another challenge for DarkClan: "Herbs can cure almost anything".  
**

**I'm working toward med. cat apprentice, and beforehand I want to say this will be another one-shot. It's short, but oh well. It's probably one of the shortest chapters I've ever written, especially for a one-shot. ****The characters are from the book/s. I just changed it up a little to fit the quote, and sorta changed where certain cats were.  
**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Warriors. **

**Briarpaw/light's POV:**

"Move out of the way! It's not safe!" screeched Dovepaw. Briarpaw stared at the two elders. Longtail was trying to coax Mousefur out of her nest. Mosuefur refused to move.

"I'm not leaving the mouse behind! It's a waste of prey!" she snapped.

"It's not safe! Get out!" Briarpaw meowed frantically. Was Mousefur truly willing to give up her life for a piece of prey?

"You can get it later," Dovepaw interrupted loudly. Her blue eyes were wide with fear. "We can come back when this is over!"

"You bring them out, Dovepaw, I'll get it!" Briarpaw meowed. "But what about you-?" her denmate began.

"I'm small, I'm flexible, I'll be able to miss the tree if it falls," Briarpaw meowed convincingly. "Just bring them out! Before something happens!" Mousefur reluctantly left her dry bedding-"Where are the apprentices going to find dry bedding with all this rain?"- and Dovepaw hurried after her to make her walk faster.

Longtail tried to move out of the den, too, but just as Briarpaw's denmate reached the stone barrier, she heard the unmistakable sound of a tree being yanked out of the muddy ground, falling, snapping-

"Longtail!" she shrieked. "Get back in here!"

The blind elder starting backtracking his way towards her and the den, and Briarpaw rushed at him and yanked him off his paws and sunk her teeth into his scruff, trying to drag him towards the den

CRRRRRRRAAAAACK...

The tree fell just as she was half-way to the den. Fear flooded her and she struggled to overcome it.._keep walking, keep walking, Briarpaw, it's the only way-_

The tree tumbled off the edge of the cliff, and Briarpaw let go of Longtail and stared in terrified wonder at the falling tree.. The top of the tree hit the ground with a thud, then the bottom of the tree lurched forward and Briarpaw was stuck there, unable to move despite her mind's shrieks at her to get out of the way..

She recovered her senses after about a heartbeat-

"Longtail!" she screamed as the trunk hit the blind elder. The elder let out a cry of confusion, and then his eyes dulled- Briarpaw tried to move out of the tree branches' path

- then she felt a thick branch collide with her back somewhere.. and everything went black.

* * *

It was Dustpelt's cry that woke her. "Longtail.." he whispered. Briarpaw tried to focus on what had just happened. "Longtail.." Dustpelt repeated. Jayfeather's growl interrupted him. "Get Lionblaze and Brackenfur," he ordered. "We need to get this tree off her back."

"What tree?" Briarpaw was filled with confusion; a few moments later Brackenfur and Lionblaze padded towards her. They broke up making a gap wide enough for her sprawled body and pushed at the tree branch that had landed on her back until it splintered, and Briarpaw saw the branch roll limply to her right side.

"Can you walk?"

_Huh?_ she wondered. She flailed her front paws. So my paws are still working good. Jayfeather interrupted again."Back off! No, Millie-"

"Briarpaw?" she heard her mother's frantic mewing "Briarpaw are you all right?"

Briarpaw struggled to stand up. An odd sensation came over her. "Where are my back legs?" Millie looked as though her blood had frozen in her veins.

"What do you mean?"

"I.. I can't feel my back legs, that's what!" she snapped; her mother stepped away from her, clearly taken aback. "Jayfeather- Jayfeather what does she mean?"

Jayfeather shouldered her out of the way. "Bring her to my den," he ordered. "She needs examining."

"Will she be okay?" Millie asked worriedly.

"She'll be fine, Millie," he responded darkly, not sounding like he agreed with his voice. Briarpaw was numbly aware of a cat lifting her onto his shoulders, her mother padding after him..

**...**

"Millie, what did I just say? She just needs a little rest." Jayfeather fixed her mother with his blind blue stare.

"I just need to be sure she's okay," fretted Millie.

"FOR STARCLAN'S SAKE MILLIE! HOW IS SHE SUPPOSED TO GET REST WITH EVERY CAT STORMING INTO MY DEN EVERY FIVE HEARTBEATS?" exploded Jayfeather. Briarpaw watched her mother leave; Leafpool's voice was vaguely heard over Jayfeather's sudden ranting explosion.

"I'd go see Littlecloud, if I were you."

"But you're not me." He seemed satisfied with his stinging remark. Leafpool seemed taken aback, but managed to give a reply. "I said, if I were you. He's dealt with an injury like Briarpaw's. He'd know what to do."

"I'll consider it." He turned back to Briarpaw. Briarpaw groaned and tried to sit up. Failed.

"Umm Briarpaw, I'm going to go see Littlecloud and see if he knows what's wrong with you," he meowed. "Not that there should be," he finished in a low mutter. "Besides, herbs cure anything."

* * *

**~Time Skip~**

Briarpaw stirred as Jayfeather entered the den. His gaze was flickering nervously around. "Littlecloud says something might be wrong with you. I need to check." She nodded. _Check what? _she wondered.

"Can you be brave for a few moments for me?" he asked her. Briarpaw nodded. _I'm an apprentice, almost a warrior! Of course I can be brave!_

"Good. Sit. Don't look."

Something sharp prodded her back. "Feel that?"

She nodded.

Again, this time a bit lower. "Yes," she meowed.

He did it a few more times, at each one she answered yes. And then nothing came.

"Are you done?" she asked.

"No," he replied. "Can you feel that?"

"No," she responded. Cold fear crept into his voice as he asked her the same question. She twisted around to look.

"No, don't look," he growled. "Can you feel that-?"

"You're making her bleed!" Millie barged into the den.

"Is he?" she twisted around to see. Tiny dots of blood were beginning to well up in her back.

"Is there anything wrong?"

Jayfeather paused. "No.. Your backbone is broken, Briarpaw. you won't ever feel anything there again, not in your legs.. not anywhere, below the break."

"What do you mean?" Millie snapped. "Broken bones mend."

"Not backbones." She heard her mother flinch back.

"Littlecloud had a patient with a broken bone once," he replied. Millie's next mew sounded slightly scared.

"What happened to him?"

"He died," Jayfeather mewed felt fear prickling her pads. Anger filled Millie's meow. "How could you tell my kit she's going to die?" she hissed. Leafpool barged into the den.

"What's going on?"

"He told Briarpaw she's going to die!" Millie growled. Leafpool turned to Jayfeather calmly. "Jayfeather, did you say that?"

"_No._" A sneer edged his voice. Briarpaw listened for another outburst.

"I didn't think so," Leafpool meowedcalmly. "Millie, come with me and let's find a piece of fresh-kill for Briarpaw." Her mother reluctantly followed Leafpool.

"Jayfeather?" she asked, unable to keep the fear out of her voice, "I'm not going to die, am I?"

"No," he snapped. "You're going to exercise." He lowered his voice. "I didn't realise how wrong I was.."

"What?"

He shrugged "Herbs heal almost anything. "

"But- I thought they cured anything."

He fixed her with an icy stare."Herbs can cure almost anything Briarpaw. Almost. Not your backbone. Your broken backbone is your life, Briarpaw. it's broken. You'll never be a warrior. I'm so sorry."

**A/N: I'm not sure if that's how you imagined it, but anyway, I thought that would be good for the quote. Read & Review! I'd really appreciate it! Thanks! **


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